NarniaFans has previously featured articles about two amazing Narnia LEGO fan creations on LEGO Ideas. Narnia Imagine… by Brickproject_7540 is an accurate reproduction of the Wardrobe from Walden Media’s movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) with more than 950 supporters. The Wardrobe by Parsom is a different version of the wardrobe that is bigger on the inside with an animated diorama and backed by more than 1,350 supporters. For the first time we present an interview with the two fan designers who created these superb models. If their projects get 10,000 supporters then LEGO Narnia could be made as a real product in the same way that Research Institute, WALL•E Project, Doctor Who and Companions, and Tron Legacy all started as fan submitted ideas. At the end of the article there are links and instructions on how to support the projects for free.
March 22, 2019, 8:47 PM
Can you please introduce yourself and how you became a Narnia Fan?
My name is Thomas, I am 20 years old, and I live in Switzerland, in Vaud. Since reading wasn’t my favorite thing, I can say that the first time I heard about Narnia, was when It was adapted by Disney in 2005. I loved this movie so much that I began to read some of the work of CS Lewis! And I was not disappointed at all. Narnia is now part of my heart, and I can stop to read/watch anything related to this magical world!
Thomas
I’m a midlife academic teacher, who is playing Lego bricks. Actually, I’m not sure if I can call myself a Narnia fan. Sure, I admire Lewis’ books. As for the movies – I’m rather reluctant, although I have a fondness for old BBC series. But I’m definitely a fan of three things from Narnia series. The first is the concept of entering the wardrobe to discover the completely new and strange world inside it. It reminds me of this exciting feeling when I was a child and was looking into my grandparents wardrobes and drawers to discover some artifacts from old times. The second is the winter scenery from the first chapters of the “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. It also reminds me of my childhood – when I was living in a little town surrounded by a forest, and when the winters were very snowy. Unfortunately, there was no lamppost in my forest. And the third thing from the Narnia series, that I also like a lot, is the oneiric sea journey in the final chapters of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”.
Paweł
How would you describe your LEGO Narnia creation?
This is a long time effort project: as a fan of Narnia and Lego bricks, I always wanted to find something related to this third part IP in lego stores. When I saw that Lego ideas allowed you to submit an idea for a next official lego set I started to design one of my favorite element of the saga with lego bricks: the wardrobe, where all started! I already submitted two version in 2015 and 2017, who received a huge support, but today I am pleased to introduce the most realistic and perfect version I made of my wardrobe! I am truly convinced that this idea have a high potential to be turned into a set, I only need 10 000 supports on lego ideas to make it happen(it is free, you only need to create a lego account).
Thomas
Thomas
It is quite a big and brown wardrobe, with an ornate front. It was modelled on the basis of different illustrations in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and on the elaborate wooden wardrobes built in the baroque era in Gdańsk, a city in the north of Poland. After opening the doors you will see the winter landscape, with trees and snow on the ground. There is also a lamppost and you can see Lucy meeting Mr. Tumnus. This seen can be easily changed – figures for alternative scenes are hidden in one of the drawers. You will find there White Witch and the witch’s sleigh, Dwarf, Mr. Beaver and Edmund, Peter and Susan. The wardrobe is full of other hidden functions. The lamppost can be illuminated by a Lego light brick. When turned on it will be casting a light on the winter landscape inside the wardrobe. The moon and the stars are glowing in the dark. Father Christmas is hidden in the right drawer. He’s popping up when you open the drawer, and is giving you a present – crank which can be used to drive the mechanism to rotate the main scene and animating a minifigure to move back and forth from behind the tree.
Paweł
Paweł
Paweł
What was the most challenging part of your design?
This time I wanted to focus myself in building something exact with the best shape as possible: so I took several pictures of the wardrobe from internet and tried to respect the proportions. But the most challenging element is certainly the design of the custom plates of the front of the wardrobe. I designed all of them by myself with adobe illustrator: it was a huge work but I am so proud of the final result, thinks it really looks good!
Thomas
As I remember – two things were costing me some sleepless nights. One was the mechanism enabling Father Christmas to pop up form wardrobe. It is quite an easy mechanism, but the lack of space was an issue. The second thing was crafting the front ornaments, especially the Aslan face.
Paweł
How long did it take you to put together your design and how many pieces were used?
3 complete days! I usually take much more time in building a lego creation but this time I started a challenge on my twitter account: the idea was to build a third version of my lego narnia wardrobe as fast and as perfect as possible with some conditions.
I used exactly 930 pieces to complete the whole set (686 for the wardrobe, 67 for map lampost, 75 for Cair Paravel, 102 for Queen castle).
Thomas
I used about 2000 bricks. It took me almost 6 months, from which the intensive building phase took about three months, and during the last three months I was only testing some minor changes and improvements from time to time.
Paweł
How has the idea for your LEGO Narnia wardrobe changed over time?
The first time, I decided to build something that looks cool with a Narnia themed build: and the result wasn’t perfect at all but I still liked it. For the second one, I tried to capture the front details with lego bricks. But it isn’t possible to get a nice effect in that scale, the overall look is good but I think that there is still missing something. For this final third build, I wanted to copy the exact shapes, and capture as best as possible the engravings of the front of the door: I took the decision to use lego plates instead of studded bricks and I can say that I am really proud of this choice!
Thomas
Thomas
Initially I planned to build only the winter scene with the lamppost, Lucy and Tumnus and some basic mechanism to rotate this scene. But the day after I came up with this idea, I realised, that it had to be built inside the wardrobe. And this basic idea remained unchanged, only the specific solutions were changing.
Paweł
Are there any easter eggs or hidden details in your model that Narnia fans might appreciate?
Yeah there is one easter egg and I am planning to add another one. There is a little trap on the back of the wardrobe full of Turkish delights/lokum! Did not mention it on my official lego ideas page, maybe I will add it as an update to the project.
Thomas
Thomas
There is only one prototypical easter egg, I guess – Mr. Tumnus parcels are in fact Lego boxes. However, there are some hidden details. It is the old wardrobe, so you can find lost key on the top of it. There is also spider living in the wardrobe (which is used to switch the lightbrick) and you can see spiderweb on the top of the wardrobe I also the carvings Aslan’s face s on the doors. And the Father Christmas pops up from the drawer – it is my tribute to the old, probably not know widely toy:
Paweł
Do you have any other Narnia themed fan creations at home that you would like to share about?
Unfortunately not. I do not have much free time and I really want to focus myself in sharing the idea to the community to hit the 10 k milestone but I would love to build something else related to Narnia. I am really thinking to build something related to the white queen castle…
Thomas
I have another Lego build Narnia wardrobe. I built it as an add on to the Lego Ideas Pop-Up Book set. Here you can see how it works:
Paweł
Are there any LEGO sets that you would like to see from the next Narnia movie The Silver Chair?
I really hope that the lego group is planning some sets in 2020. I would love to see something related to Ettinsmoore, something really crazy for sure, but I think it would looks cool to see some giant figures next to small classic lego minifigures in a rocky landscape!
Thomas
I hope that first Lego Narnia set, if it will be ever produced, will be based on “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” book.
Paweł
If you could have any Narnia character as a LEGO Minifigure who would you chose?
Nothing original at all, but I would choose to get a figure of Peter Pevensie: the bravest and coolest character of the saga to my mind!
Thomas
Thomas
Well, we already have two minifigures at least loosely based on Narnia characters. The first is the Faun from series 15 of collectable minifigures. Even if he isn’t called Mr. Tumnus, is lacking scarf, and holding a flute instead of an umbrella, he is definitely looking like James McAvoy. And the second is the Ice Queen from series 16, which in fact is the White Witch. So now it’s time for Lego Reepicheep.
Paweł
How can Narnia Fans support your project if they want to see it become a reality?
Voting for this project on lego Ideas and sharing it everywhere with your friends, on social medias is the only thing I need! It is really easy: you only need to create and account or connect with your facebook or twitter account and click on the blue « Support » button and that’s it! I would also appreciate I you write a comment in the comment section, it will help to increase the visibility of the project. Don’t forget it: every support counts a lot for me, for Aslan and for Narnia!
(Update: This project expired after gathering 2,355 supporters)
Thomas
Narnia Imagine… by Brickproject_7540: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/b9780f19-d833-49d8-97b7-bcbe9a353d48
(Update: This project expired after gathering 2,355 supporters)
Thomas
Click here https://ideas.lego.com/projects/c03edd30-3a26-48cb-95fa-e7741878dbfc, login or create an account, and click “support”. And share it with your friends and family!
Paweł
The Wardrobe by Parsom: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/c03edd30-3a26-48cb-95fa-e7741878dbfc
Paweł